Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how the size of the badger population will be calculated in areas which will have pilot culls of badgers to control bovine tuberculosis.

James Paice: Natural England will estimate the badger population in an area based on information provided by the applicants and other available evidence, such as relevant data from the Independent Scientific Group (ISG) Report—Bovine “TB: The Scientific Evidence. Final Report of the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB”. DEFRA has confirmed that it is to conduct a national survey of the badger population. This coupled with Natural England's own survey work and the survey work being undertaken on behalf of the farmers in the pilot areas will provide useful information of the state of the population.

Crown Prosecution Service: Closures

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Attorney-General if he will make an assessment of the implications of the closure of the Crown Prosecution Service office at Athena House, York, for the administration of justice and of its potential effect on victims of crime.

Edward Garnier: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Yorkshire and Humberside is currently considering consolidating most of its operations in the counties of West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire into its office in Leeds. In relation to North Yorkshire, the proposal is to retain a CPS office in central York.
	The proposal will enable the quality of service to be maintained and bring increased resilience at a time when staff numbers are reducing considerably across the area, particularly in York, the smallest of the three offices in North and West Yorkshire. In addition digital working will compliment the consolidation of the area's operations as more files will be served more quickly by electronic means.
	Wide consultation has taken place with the key local criminal justice system partners, staff and management, including trade unions. The informal consultation period closed on 3 May 2012. A formal assessment of the proposal is still under consideration and no final decision has been made.

Drugs: Crime

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Attorney-General how many residents of (a) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency, (b) Middlesbrough Local Authority and (c) Redcar and Cleveland Local Authority were prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service for (i) possession of, (ii) possession with intent to supply of, (iii) supplying and (iv) producing a (A) class A drug, (B) class B drug and (C) class C drug in each year since 2007.

Edward Garnier: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the place of residence of the defendants they prosecute. This data could only be obtained by examining all of the CPS's files, which would incur a disproportionate cost.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many registered vehicle owners paid their vehicle road fund licence (a) six monthly and (b) annually in the last year for which figures are available; and how much additional revenue was generated for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency by people paying for six monthly licences.

Norman Baker: Information is only available about the number of six and 12 month vehicle licences issued. In the financial year 2011-12, the DVLA issued 20,585,767 six-month vehicle licences and 25,501,639 12-month licences. The DVLA does not hold information on how much additional revenue was generated by people purchasing six month vehicle licences.

Affordable Housing: Reading (Berkshire)

Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many affordable homes have been (a) started and (b) completed in Reading West constituency since May 2010.

Grant Shapps: Data is not available by constituency area. There were 161 affordable homes started and 128 completed in Reading borough council between April 2010 and September 2011, the latest period for which data are available, as reported in the Homes and Communities Agency's six monthly National Housing Statistics.
	These statistics only cover affordable housing that is delivered through the Homes and Communities Agency's affordable housing programmes; affordable housing delivered outside these programmes is not included. Housing starts cover new build starts only while completions include both new build and acquisitions.
	Total affordable completions, including those delivered outside the Homes and Communities Agency's programmes are published annually in the Department's Affordable Housing Supply statistics available on the Department's website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/housingresearch/housingstatistics/housingstatisticsby/affordablehousingsupply/livetables/

Local Government: Debt Collection

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department has estimated the potential change in the level of work for firms of bailiffs commissioned from local authorities in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14 compared to 2010-11; and if he will make a statement.

Grant Shapps: This information is not held centrally.
	No assessment has been made on this as it is for local authorities to decide the level of work they contract out to bailiff companies.
	That notwithstanding, the use of bailiffs should be a last resort, they should not be commissioned disproportionately and councils should take direct responsibility for ensuring they abide by acceptable practices.

Public Houses: Regulation

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress has been made in reducing the regulatory burden on community pubs; and what recent discussions or other communications he has had with pub companies or their representatives on this issue.

Bob Neill: The Government is, through the Red Tape Challenge, removing or amending a number of burdensome and unnecessary rules that will directly benefit pubs. These include simplifying alcohol licensing forms, decentralising temporary event notices, revoking smoke-free sign regulations and rationalising the rules around weights and measures. In addition, Lord Clement Jones' Live Music Bill will make it easier for pubs to host live music performances.
	The Localism Act is making it easier for small firms, including pubs, to claim small business rate relief, and gives councils new powers to levy discretionary business rate discounts—which could, for example, be used to support local pubs.
	In my capacity as Minister for Community Pubs, I have had discussions with the majority of the major pub companies and their representative organisations over the course of the last year.

Wind Power: Planning Permission

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he plans to issue new guidance to the Planning Inspectorate on onshore wind farms; and what will be included in any such guidance.

Bob Neill: The National Planning Policy Framework sets out the Government's planning policies for England, including for renewable energy, and how these are expected to be applied. Having published the Framework we will now consider what underpinning guidance continues to be needed.

Business: Loans

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to require banks to publish anonymised data showing the (a) amount and (b) geographical location of lending; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: Banks already provide a range of information on lending and the geographical location of such lending. For example as part of the British Banker Association (BBA) Better Finance Taskforce, the BBA committed to publishing an enhanced SME lending dataset that would include a regional breakdown. The first dataset was published on 20 March 2012 and will be published on a quarterly basis. The data include value of overdraft and loan balances, number and value of approved applications for new or increased loan and overdraft facilities, value of new or increased loans drawn down and value of loan repayments. These data can be found on the BBA website:
	http://www.bba.org.uk/statistics/article/banks-support-for-smes-july-to-december-2011

Risk Assessment

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what strategic or transitional risk registers in each area of policy are held by the Government Equalities Office; and if she will make a statement.

Lynne Featherstone: As of 1 April 2011, the Government Equalities Office has been part of the Home Office and is no longer a separate Government Department. The information requested will be provided by the Minister for Immigration, the hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green), in response to your question to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May).

Trade Unions

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities 
	(1)  how many trade union representatives in the Government Equalities Office had (a) part-time and (b) full-time paid facility time arrangements in 2011-12;
	(2)  how many days were utilised for paid facility time by each trade union representative in the Government Equalities Office in 2011-12; and at what cost to the public purse;
	(3)  how many days were utilised for paid facility time by each trade union representative in the Government Equalities Office for trade union (a) duties and (b) activities in 2011-12;
	(4)  if she will place in the Library copies of the facility time agreements between trade unions and the Government Equalities Office.
	(5)  how many trade union representatives in the Government Equalities Office have faced disciplinary action for abusing paid facility time or public resources in each of the last five years;
	(6)  how many meetings have taken place between the Government Equalities Office and trade union representatives utilising paid facility time in each of the last five years to discuss (a) collective bargaining, (b) redundancies, (c) negotiations relating to employment, pay and conditions and (d) other trade union and industrial relations duties; and what the dates and times were of each meeting;
	(7)  on how many occasions trade union representatives from the Government Equalities Office have utilised paid facility time to represent an employee at a meeting or other industrial relations matter in each of the last five years.

Lynne Featherstone: As of 1 April 2011, the Government Equalities Office has been part of the Home Office and is no longer a separate Government Department. The information requested will be provided by the Minister for Immigration, the hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green), in response to your question to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May).

Broadcasting

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport whether Ofcom (a) has the power and (b) is under any obligation to report to the devolved administrations within the UK on the state of investment for infrastructure, coverage and service within the devolved nations.

Edward Vaizey: The Digital Economy Act 2010 gave Ofcom a new duty to report to the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport every three years on the state of the UK's communications infrastructure. The report considers the coverage, capacity and resilience of the main public networks and services available in the UK, which includes fixed line and mobile telephony, and broadband, digital radio and digital terrestrial TV. The report considers them from both a UK-wide perspective and at the level of county/unitary authority. The UK Communications Infrastructure Report 2011 was published for the first time last November.
	Apart from the UK Communications Infrastructure Report, for the last eight years Ofcom has published an annual Communications Market Report containing statistics and analysis of the UK communications sector, The report is published to support Ofcom's regulatory goal to research markets constantly and to remain at the forefront of technological understanding. It also fulfils the requirements on Ofcom under Section 358 of the Communications Act 2003 to publish an annual factual and statistical report, and addresses the requirement to undertake and make public Ofcom's consumer research as set out in Section Hand 15 of the same Act. For the last six years companion reports for each of the UK's nations have been published alongside the UK Communications Market Report.

Telephone Services

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many call centres provide services for his Department and the bodies for which he is responsible; and how many such call centres are based abroad.

John Penrose: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) does not use call centre services.
	DCMS does not hold this information for its arm's length bodies (ALBs). Accordingly, I have asked the chief executives of our ALBs to write directly to the hon. Member for Warley with this information.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Temporary Accommodation

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what powers the police and other agencies have to prevent anti-social behaviour caused by homeless people who have been temporarily housed in hotels.

James Brokenshire: The police and other agencies have access to numerous formal and informal powers to tackle antisocial behaviour by individuals, wherever they are housed, including acceptable behaviour contracts and antisocial behaviour orders. The Home Office has consulted on proposals to streamline these powers, making them less bureaucratic and more effective. We will publish the Government's response to the consultation in due course.

British Nationality: Families

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what further provisions of the Schengen acquis the UK has adopted since the adoption of Council Decision 2000/365/EC; and what conditions were imposed on the UK in respect of each such measure;
	(2)  on how many occasions the Council has required the UK to meet certain conditions before admitting it to provisions of the Schengen acquis under Council Decision 2000/365/EC; and what conditions were imposed in each such case.

James Brokenshire: Since the 2000 Council Decision determining the UK's initial participation in elements of the Schengen Acquis, the UK has made only one application under Article 4 of Protocol 19 on the Schengen Acquis integrated into the framework of the EU (the Schengen Protocol) to join further provisions of Schengen. That application was granted by Council Decision 2010/779/EU which facilitated the UK's participation in the regulation establishing a European agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice.
	The Schengen Protocol does not provide for conditions to be imposed where a request is made by the UK, or Ireland, to take part in provisions of the Schengen Acquis. However, the UK will have to undergo an evaluation process before connecting to the second generation of the Schengen Information System (SIS II) to ensure that we meet the necessary data protection and security standards; that evaluation is applicable to any state wishing to join SIS.

Deportation

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the UK Border Agency spent on flights for the deportation of immigrants in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: The following table shows the expenditure for public expense removals in each of the last five financial years.
	
		
			 Financial year NET total (£) 
			 2007-08 20,295,271 
			 2008-09 26,789,716 
			 2009-10 29,290,204 
			 2010-11 29,034,845 
			 2011-12 28,442,081 
			 Net total 133,852,116 
		
	
	Where a removal is cancelled after a ticket has been issued, we always seek a refund from the carrier where the ticket type allows. The three most significant reasons for cancellation are where a person makes a late application for asylum, launches a last minute appeal to the courts (e.g. a judicial review) or where the detainee becomes so disruptive that the airline refuses to carry the person. The figures provided for 2010-11 and 2011-12 exclude the value of refunds which are yet to be received.
	The data are taken from internal management information, which is provisional and has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols. It is subject to change and does not form part of national statistics.

Fraud

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will place in the Library a diagrammatic representation of the relationships between the (a) bodies and (b) strategies for tackling fraud in Government including (i) Fighting Fraud Together: the strategic plan to reduce fraud, (ii) the Counter Fraud Taskforce, (iii) the Cabinet Office Taskforce on Fraud, Error and Debt, (iv) the National Fraud Agency, (v) Action Fraud, (vi) the Serious Fraud Office, (vii) the Serious Organised Crime Agency, (viii) any relevant central Government department, (ix) any relevant non-departmental public body and (x) any other relevant body or strategy.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 14 May 2012
	I have placed a copy of the material requested by the hon. Member in the Library. The Government are committed to fighting fraud and the harm it causes to the economy and the public’s wellbeing. Fighting Fraud Together is the national strategic plan for combating fraud and is based on three objectives: awareness, prevention and enforcement. Fighting Fraud Together is not owned by the Government and is a collaborative exercise between the public sector, private sector companies, law enforcement organisations and the voluntary sector. This response is overseen by the Economic Crime Coordination Board as a precursor to the Economic Crime Command of the National Crime Agency. Allied to this the Government have established a fraud error and debt taskforce to tackle the estimated £20 billion losses to fraud in the public sector. We will continue to work side by side with partners across all sectors to ensure the best possible response to fraud.

Immigration Controls: Skilled Workers

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the cap on non-EU migrant workers.

Damian Green: The Government commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to provide advice on the level of the migration limit for 2012-13 and whether further changes were needed to the rules for entry of non-EEA skilled workers to the UK in light of the impact of the limit and associated policies to reduce net migration. The MAC'S report, published on 28 February 2012, recommended no change to the annual limit of 20,700, and the Government has accepted the MAC'S recommendation.
	The limit, together with other changes we have made, has delivered a far more selective migration system which allows employers access to highly skilled migrants who will help promote economic growth, while keeping numbers at a sustainable level and eliminating abuse.

Licensed Premises: Security

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 25 April 2012, Official Report, column 894W, on licensed premises: security, if she will place in the Library the existing written guidance on false identification documents for door supervisors.

James Brokenshire: The previously published guidance was withdrawn while it is being updated to reflect revised legislation. Revised guidance will be available shortly.

Licensing Laws: Reading (Berkshire)

Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many alcohol licences have been revoked in Reading West constituency due to the sale of alcohol to children since the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office's collection of Alcohol, Entertainment and Late Night Refreshment Licensing statistics covers the number of licences revoked, but does not indicate why they were revoked. Licences may be revoked following a review by a licensing authority for a number of reasons, including for the offence of persistently selling of alcohol to children. The collection also covers the numbers of licences suspended by the courts.
	Alcohol licensing statistics are not collected by parliamentary constituency. However, Reading West constituency is covered by the combined unitary licensing authorities of Reading and West Berkshire. 2006-07 was the first year of collection after the Licensing Act 2003 came into force in 2005. Table1 includes information on the numbers of premises licences revoked and the numbers of club premises certificates withdrawn from 2006-07 to 2009-10 for these authorities. Table 2 shows that from 2007-08 to 2009-10, no premises licences were suspended by a court within Reading and West Berkshire.
	Neither licensing authority provided information for the year 2006-07 to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which was then responsible for the collection of licensing data.
	
		
			 Table 1:Premises licences revoked or club premises certificates withdrawn (1)  following a completed review, Reading and West Berkshire Licensing authorities, 2006-07 to 2009-10 
			  Licensing authority 
			 Financial year Reading West Berkshire 
			 2006-07 (2)— (2)— 
			 2007-08 2 1 
			 2008-09 0 2 
			 2009-10 0 0 
			 (1) Where a club premises certificate is withdrawn under section 90 of the Licensing Act 2003. (2) Non response or unknown. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Premises licences suspended by a court (1) , Reading and West Berkshire Licensing authorities, 2006-07 to 2009-10 
			  Licensing authority 
			 Financial year Reading West Berkshire 
			 2006-07(2) (3)— (3)— 
			 2007-08 0 0 
			 2008-09 0 0 
			 2009-10 0 0 
			 (1) Where a premises licence is suspended by a court, under section 147B(1) of the Licensing Act 2003 (as amended by the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006) for the sale or supply of alcohol, following an offence of persistently selling to underage children. (2) Prior to 6 April 2007 premises licence could be suspended following a review. From 6 April 2007, a premises licence could be suspended by a court, under section 147B(1) of the Licensing act 2003 (as amended by the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006) for the sale or supply of alcohol, following an offence of persistently selling to underage children. (3) Non response or unknown.

Palestinians

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his Egyptian counterpart on the full opening of the Rafah crossing into Gaza.

Alistair Burt: During his visit to Egypt in May 2011, my the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), discussed the relaxation of the Rafah crossing controls with the then Egyptian Foreign Minister, Nabil al-Arabi. Following these discussions, the UK welcomed the decision by Egypt on 27 May 2011 to partially ease restrictions on the movement of people through the Rafah crossing. However, Rafah is not suitable for commercial goods or large amounts of humanitarian aid.
	We are clear that the key to the economic regeneration of Gaza is easing of restrictions at the Israeli crossings into Gaza, including for exports, construction material imports and the movement of people.

Accountancy

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in his Department had (a) a recognised accountancy qualification and (b) the Associate Chartered Accountant qualification in each of the last three years; and how many staff in his Department were working towards a recognised accountancy qualification in each such year.

Simon Burns: The information requested is provided in the following table.
	
		
			  2010 2011 
			 Total number of staff with a recognised accountancy qualification 92 123 
			 Total number of staff with the Associate Chartered Accountant qualification 8 8 
			 Total number of staff working towards a recognised accountancy qualification 27 31 
			 Notes: 1. 2011 is the latest year for which data is available. The Department did not collect this data centrally before 2010. 2. Information relating to Connecting for Health staff holding, or working towards, a recognised accountancy qualification was collected for the first time in 2011.

Alcoholic Drinks

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of under 18 year-olds in alcohol treatment programmes in the Tees Valley.

Anne Milton: The national alcohol treatment monitoring system (NATMS) records data on the numbers of young people (under 18) in contact with specialist drug and alcohol services in England. Figures from the NATMS show that 211 young people received a specialist intervention for a primary alcohol problem in Tees Valley in 2010-11.

Cancer

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he will take to ensure that the difference between cancer survival rates in England and those in other countries continues to be measured.

Paul Burstow: Cancer survival rates in England will continue to be assessed alongside cancer survival rates in other countries, for example through the European cancer registry-based study on the survival and care of cancer patients (EUROCARE) research project. We have been able to make very useful, up to date comparisons through the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP), which we have been running with Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Wales and Northern Ireland, but we have yet to determine the future for the ICBP.

Childbirth

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to improve the outcomes of babies born prematurely or sick in England; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will make care for premature or sick babies a priority for the NHS Commissioning Board; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: The Government are committed to the provision of high quality, safe neonatal services founded on evidence-based good practice and outcomes. We have made ‘reducing deaths in babies and young children’ and ‘improving the safety of maternity services’ areas for improvement in the NHS Outcomes Framework for 2012-13.
	To assist national health service commissioners and providers in the delivery of safe, high quality neonatal services, the Department published the evidence based “Toolkit for High Quality Neonatal Services” in 2009.
	http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_107845
	The Toolkit is supported by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's “Quality Standard for specialist neonatal care” published in 2010.
	www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qualitystandards/specialistneonatalcare/specialistneonatalcarequalitystandard.jsp
	The NHS Commissioning Board will be held to account for its performance against outcomes in the NHS Outcomes Framework. By focusing on outcomes, the Government will hold the board to account for improved services for premature and sick babies, but allow clinicians the freedom to design services that are most effective for achieving better care.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the report by Action for ME, Ignorance, Injustice and Neglect, for what reason 53 out of 151 patient care trusts in England were able to provide full or partial information about their funding of services for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.

Paul Burstow: Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is a complex long-term neurological condition with a range of symptoms, with each sufferer experiencing their own personal combination. Physical and/or mental fatigue is the most well-known symptom, but others include pain, disturbed sleep, and gastrointestinal problems. Information about actual numbers of people with CFS/ME—and the funding spent on services locally—is difficult to obtain because of the problems with producing a precise definition of the illness.
	The World Health Organisation classes benign myalgic encephalomyelitis and post viral fatigue syndrome under the same classification G93.3 ‘diseases of the nervous system’—subheading ‘other disorders of the brain’. The Chief Medical Officer's Independent Working Group on CFS/ME, which reported in 2002, recognised that that there were widely different views on how symptoms are described, defined and classified, and called for a consensus to be reached on terminology and definition. While awaiting this, the group recommended that the composite term CFS/ME should be used. While this will help with gathering information from the national health service, there is still only partial information available and some local variations.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  with reference to the report by Action for ME, Ignorance, Injustice and Neglect, for what reason more than a quarter of patient care trusts in England do not commission specialist secondary care for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome;
	(2)  for what reason 37 out of 151 patient care trusts in England provide domiciliary care for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome;
	(3)  with reference to the recommendation by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence that patient care trusts (PCTs) should provide a designated myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome pathway, for what reason fewer than a third of PCTs in England provide such a pathway.

Paul Burstow: In 2007, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued a clinical guideline on the management of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME).
	The guideline recommends the use of cognitive behaviour therapy and graded exercise in patients mildly or moderately affected by CFS/ME on the basis that these were the interventions for which there was the clearest research evidence of benefit. A number of other treatments, including particular drugs, vitamin supplements and complementary therapies, were not recommended because there was not enough evidence to suggest that they were effective. The guideline acknowledges that there is no one form of treatment to suit every patient, and that treatment and care should take into account the personal needs and preferences of the patient.
	It is important to emphasise that NICE clinical guidelines are just that—guidelines for health care professionals. Government policy is for the national health service locally to set its own priorities in response to local need and local circumstances and commission services accordingly.
	Improving quality and delivering better health outcomes for patients is the primary purpose of the NHS. Accountability throughout the system needs to be focused on the outcomes of care, rather than the processes. This focus on outcomes will start at a national level with the 2012-13 NHS Outcomes Framework, which defines and will enable measurement of the key outcomes that matter to patients.
	All five domains within the NHS Outcomes Framework have relevance for people living with CFS/ME and other neurological conditions. Domain two—enhancing the quality of life for people with long-term conditions as a whole—is the most immediately relevant. This reflects the fact that increasing numbers of people have multiple long-term conditions, and it is not always helpful to see their care from the perspective of a single clinical pathway. Domain two seeks to capture how successfully the NHS is supporting people with long-term conditions to live as normal a life as possible and will be measured using three outcomes:
	(i) feeling supported to manage their condition—this measures how, well the NHS as a whole is doing in supporting people to look after themselves and handle the consequences of their conditions;
	(ii) functional ability—this measures how well the person is able to live as normal a life as possible, and by looking at employment ties in well with the Department for Work and Pensions and the Government’s wider policies about getting people back to work; and
	(iii) reduced time spent in hospital—this measures how successfully the NHS manages the condition(s) by looking at unnecessary hospital admissions and excessive length of stay.
	It will be the responsibility of the NHS Commissioning Board to determine how to deliver the outcomes in the NHS Outcomes Framework. The board will use the Outcomes Framework and NICE Quality Standards to develop a Commissioning Outcomes Framework and together these will be the basis for clinical commissioning groups to be held to account. The board will also support commissioning by developing detailed commissioning guidance and tools such as standard contracts and tariffs.

Clinical Trials

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of (a) group sequential trials and (b) continual reassessment method trials in (i) increasing efficiency and (ii) decreasing the cost of drug development.

Simon Burns: Group-sequential trials are in widespread use. Trials with this type of design are proposed and conducted by the pharmaceutical industry and by academic groups, and are endorsed and accepted by regulatory agencies worldwide. For example, all clinical trial sponsors designing Phase III confirmatory clinical trials in oncology would consider a group-sequential design with the possibility of early stopping for efficacy. A group-sequential trial that meets stopping criteria at an interim analysis (for ‘efficacy’ representing a success, or for ‘futility’ representing a failure) will, in many circumstances, represent a more efficient and less costly way to achieve a result than a fixed sample-size design. This is recognised by sponsors of clinical trials, who have primary responsibility for the choice of design, and by regulators.
	Continual reassessment method (CRM) trials offer improvements in relation to ‘standard’ dose-escalation trials in terms of the manner in which patients are allocated to dose levels leading to a more efficient trial e.g. more relevant information obtained per patient exposed. This is well documented in published literature relating to clinical trials.
	Regulators advising sponsors on the adequacy of drug development programmes to support marketing authorisation application also recognise the benefits of the CRM approach, though this is somewhat specialist methodology and is rarely ‘pivotal’ to licensing decisions. CRM may not decrease costs compared to a standard design, but for each unit of ‘cost’, in particular if measured by patient exposure, the CRM will, on average, give more information than the standard 3+3 design, enabling better decisions about which drugs and which doses to pursue—hence improved efficiency and lower likelihood of wasting money on futile or poorly informed development programmes.

Depressive Illnesses

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of the population were affected by depression in the last year for which figures are available.

Paul Burstow: From figures obtained through the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey in England 2007, 9% of people meet the criteria for the diagnosis of mixed anxiety and depression, with 2.3% meeting the criteria for the diagnosis of a depressive episode.
	The Government is investing around £400 million in talking therapies over the four years to 2014-15, which will mean that an extra 1.2 million people are able to get treatment for depression and anxiety.

Hospitals

Dave Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been paid to consultants who have undertaken reviews of the financial position of St Helen's Hospital; and if he will publish the consultants' findings.

Simon Burns: The Department paid £101,267 in 2006-07 to undertake a historic due diligence and working capital review of St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust as part of the trust's application to become a foundation trust in that year. This work is required for all national health service trusts, seeking to achieve foundation trust status.
	The Department provided £220,000 to fund a review in May 2011 the impact of private finance initiative (PFI) arrangements in 22 NHS trusts in England, with PFI schemes which might hinder their ability to achieve foundation trust status. Informed by this review, the Department announced on 3 February 2012 that six of these trusts, including St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, may be eligible for financial support from the Department to ensure their long-term financial viability subject to passing four tests. The Department plans to publish the outcome of the review in due course.
	Spending on consultants by the trust to review its financial position is not held centrally.

Learning Disability

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will introduce a statutory requirement for doctors to receive training on care for patients with learning disabilities; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: Government do not specify the content of training curricula for doctors. The content and standard of healthcare training is the responsibility of the independent regulatory body, the General Medical Council (GMC). Through their role as the custodians of quality standards in education and practice, the GMC are committed to ensuring high quality patient care delivered by high quality doctors and that doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to deal with the problems and conditions they will encounter in practice. Medical schools design curricula for undergraduate medical education and Medical Royal Colleges for postgraduate medical training, all to meet the standards set out by the GMC.
	Annual health checks are a ‘reasonable adjustment’ to overcome known health inequalities faced by people with a learning disability. One of the pre requisites for GP practices taking part in the annual health checks directed enhanced service (DES), was that practice staff should attend a multi professional training session. Funding was made available to primary care trusts (PCTs) for those practices taking part in the DES. however, no additional funding was made available to PGTs to arrange training for practice staff. The Royal College of General Practitioners acknowledges that annual health checks, improved data on local learning disability populations and improved training are clear evidence of local areas responding to the recommendations of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and the Local Government Ombudsman on healthcare for people with learning disabilities in their joint investigation “Six Lives”.
	We have committed to work with professional regulatory bodies and educational bodies to support improvements in the training and education of healthcare staff in relation to learning disabilities. Healthcare providers and professionals have a “duty of care”, a clear moral and social responsibility to look after the people in their care effectively. This means that the wellbeing of all service users, and a commitment to treat people with dignity and respect—should be central to their work. Should providers fall seriously short of the expected standards, we will expect the full range of sanctions.

Mental Health Services

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much the NHS spent on mindfulness-based treatments in each of the last five years;
	(2)  if he will estimate the number of people who could benefit from mindfulness-based therapies approved by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE); and how many people were being treated by mindfulness-based therapies approved by NICE in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(3)  if he will estimate the average cost to the public purse of treating repeated episodes of depression by (a) drugs, (b) individual counselling and (c) mindfulness-based therapy in the most recent period for which figures are available;
	(4)  how many patients suffering from repeat depression were waiting for treatment based on (a) individual counselling and (b) mindfulness-based therapy in the most recent period for which figures are available;
	(5)  what assessment he has made of level of access to mindfulness-based therapy;
	(6)  how many and what proportion of patients suffering with depression were given mindfulness-based therapies in each primary care trust area in England in the latest year for which figures are available;
	(7)  what assessment he has made of the propensity of GPs to prescribe mindfulness-based therapy for patients who have depression;
	(8)  if he will estimate the proportion of GPs who regularly prescribe mindfulness-based therapy for the treatment of repeat depression;
	(9)  what assessment he has made of any potential financial savings to the NHS of an increased take up of mindfulness-based therapy for the treatment of repeat depression;
	(10)  which conditions the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has assessed for treatment with mindfulness-based therapies; and which treatments have been taken up by the NHS;
	(11)  what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of (a) anti-depressants and (b) mindfulness-based treatment in (i) curing and (ii) suppressing depression.

Paul Burstow: How much was spent by the national health service on mindfulness-based therapies is not collected centrally and neither has an estimate been made of the number of people who could benefit from receiving it. With regard to how many people have been treated using mindfulness-based therapies and the cost to the public purse of treating repeated episodes of depression by drugs, individual counselling and mindfulness-based therapy in the most recent period for which figures are available I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 3 October 2011, Official Report, columns 1406-08W.
	Figures showing how many patients suffering from repeat depression were waiting for treatment based on individual counselling and mindfulness-based therapy in the most recent period for which figures are available are not collected centrally and no national assessment of access to mindfulness based therapies has been made.
	With regard to how many and what proportion of patients suffering with depression were given mindfulness-based therapies in each primary care trust area in England in the latest year for which figures are available I also refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 3 October 2011, Official Report, columns 1406-08W.
	No assessment of the propensity of general practitioners (GPs) to prescribe mindfulness-based therapies has been made. It is more usually the case that patients will receive the therapy as part of their treatment by an IAPT practitioner to whom they will have been referred by their GP. For similar reasons, no estimate has been made of the proportion of GPs who regularly prescribe mindfulness-based therapy for the treatment of repeat depression.
	We have not made an assessment of the potential financial savings to the NHS that may be realised by an increased take up of mindfulness-based therapy for the treatment of repeat depression. However, research has shown mindfulness-based therapy to be effective in preventing relapse after a period of depression and this is why mindfulness-based therapy is increasingly being offered as part of IAPT delivered interventions.
	The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is responsible for determining the exact scope of its guidance on individual disease areas, including the specific interventions covered. Their clinical guidelines on depression in adults, published in October 2009, and common mental health disorders, published in May 2011, include recommendations on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.
	The Department has not made an assessment of the effectiveness of anti-depressants and mindfulness-based treatment in curing and suppressing depression. It is the role for NICE to assess treatments and based on their findings make recommendations to the NHS.

Mental Health Services

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the budget spent through primary care trusts was spent on mental health services in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 24 April 2012, Official Report, columns 865-69W. The data requested for 2011-12 is expected to be made available in autumn 2012.

Public Bodies

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department holds on the rules relating to disclosure of interest on the part of people serving on his Department's associated public bodies.

Simon Burns: The rules relating to disclosure of interest on the part of people serving on the Department's associated public bodies are set out in the Cabinet Office's ‘Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies’.
	The document has been placed in the Library. It is also available on the Cabinet Office website at:
	www.bl.uk/aboutus/governance/blboard/Board%20Code%20of%20Practice%202011.pdf

Sheffield Primary Care Trust

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the potential effects on patient care of the requirement for Sheffield Primary Care Trust to hold back two per cent of its budget in 2011-12 and 2012-13 to cover the costs of reorganisation.

Simon Burns: The 2% requirement introduced in the 2010-11 NHS Operating Framework, published 16 December 2009, is a key part of the national health service financial strategy, and the 2012-13 NHS Operating Framework states that every primary care trust is required to commit 2% of their recurrent resources on non-recurrent expenditure. Part of this non-recurrent expenditure will be the non-recurrent costs of organisational and system change, but a significant part of the non-recurrent expenditure relates to Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention initiatives in both NHS trusts and primary care trusts, and service redesign costs not related to the new health system.
	The requirement to commit a level of recurring funds that are only ever committed non-recurrently enables flexibility and mitigates financial risk. It is expected that this approach to financial risk management will continue in the future.

Smoking

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how his Department plans to measure the effectiveness of its behaviour change campaign to reduce the number of adults smoking in cars carrying children.

Anne Milton: The Department will use a number of measures to evaluate the effectiveness of its second-hand smoke campaign, which addresses both homes and cars. This includes:
	1. Pre- and post-campaign tracking, research surveys with the target audience to measure awareness of the campaign and changes in attitude and behaviour, including whether smokers, have made their homes and cars smoke free and whether they have quit smoking.
	2. Research with recipients of the Smokefree Kit, which is promoted within the campaign, to assess whether this product further influences changes in attitudes and behaviour change in comparison to those who have solely seen the campaign.
	3. Analysis of response data such as visits to the Smokefree website, text responses to the advertising and social media activity.

Social Services

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many local authorities in England, with responsibility for adult social services, have a monopoly provider providing 25 per cent or over of nursing care; and what the names are of each of these local authorities and their monopoly provider.

Paul Burstow: The information requested is not collected centrally. Local authorities are free to decide how best to provide care to meet the needs of their populations. They may do so by providing services directly or via contracting with independent providers of care.
	In October 2011, the Department published a discussion paper. “Oversight of the Social Care Market”, which outlined the issues facing the social care market and possible options for strengthening oversight of the largest and most complex providers. This has provided a valuable opportunity for us to hear views on this area and reflect on the best approach.
	We have considered the responses to the consultation paper, and intend to address the issue of market oversight in the forthcoming White Paper on care and support.

Speech Therapy

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance and support he plans to give to clinical commissioning consortia to ensure that they commission an appropriate range of services for people with speech language and communication needs.

Simon Burns: As commissioners, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will need to have strong relationships with a range of health partners to provide them with access to information, advice and knowledge to help them make the best possible commissioning decisions. They will be under a statutory duty to seek advice in commissioning services from a broad range of professionals, such as those who are well placed to understand the speech, language and communication needs of local populations. They will also be able to access advice from clinical senates and networks.
	The NHS Commissioning Board will have a duty to publish commissioning guidance to which CCGs must have regard. In addition, CCGs will work with local authorities to develop a comprehensive analysis of health and social care needs in each local area, and to translate these into action through the joint health and wellbeing strategy and their own commissioning plans.

Asylum and Immigration Tribunal

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many companies appealed to the First Tier Tribunals Service Tax Chamber relating to cases involving PAYE, VAT or national insurance contributions in financial years (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12; and what proportion of those appeals were successful.

Jonathan Djanogly: HM Courts and Tribunals Service does not hold centrally any of the information sought. It could only be collated by trawling individual tribunal files manually. Accordingly, it could be provided only at a disproportionate cost. In addition any figures would be misleading as many of the files will have been destroyed under the retention policy guidance.
	Statistical data are published annually and quarterly, including data on the volumes of appeals from any source received and disposed of for the financial years (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11 and the latest figures year to date for (c) 2011-12 as shown in the following table:
	
		
			 First Tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) 
			    2011-12 (1) 
			 Volumes 2009-10 2010-11 Quarter 1:  April to June Quarter 2 : July  to September Quarter 3 :  October to December 
			 Receipts 10,400 8,900 2,300 2,900 3,400 
			 Disposals 5,600 6,100 1,300 1,900 1,500 
			 Caseload outstanding 13,500 17,600 19,200 20,300 22,100 
			 (1) The latest published data are for Quarter 3 2011-12. Official Statistics for Quarter 4 (January to March) 2011-12 and annual statistics for 2011-12 will be published on 28 June 2012. 
		
	
	This information is available from the following sources;
	Annual Statistics for the Tribunals Service 2009-10:
	http://www.tribunals.gov.uk/Tribunals/Documents/Publications/TS_AnnualStatisticsReport0910.pdf
	Annual Tribunals Statistics, 2010-11:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/statistics/tribs-stats/annual-tribunals-statistics-2010-11.pdf
	Quarterly Statistics for the Tribunals Quarters 1, 2 and 3 2011-12:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/tribunals/quarterly

Asylum and Immigration Tribunal

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he expects to initiate a consultation on the proposed statutory instrument bringing first tier tribunals on a point of law back into the scope of legal aid; whether such consultation will include representatives of advice agencies and the tribunal judiciary; and whether he proposes that the decision as to whether a tribunal comes into scope will be left to the discretion of a tribunal judge either on their own cognisance or by a direction made by a claimant or claimant's representative.

Jonathan Djanogly: We have undertaken to explore whether we can find a way whereby someone, other than the claimant or their lawyer, certifies that a welfare benefits appeal in the First-tier Tribunal involves a point of law. There is still much work to do to determine how and in what circumstances this might be done. Although we have no current plans to consult we may seek views from and engage with interested parties where we consider it appropriate to do so.

Legal Aid Scheme

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether welfare benefits will be included in the Mandatory Legal Aid Telephone Gateway.

Jonathan Djanogly: Welfare benefits will not be subject to the initial phase of the mandatory gateway. The initial areas of law covered by the mandatory gateway will be debt (in so far as it remains in scope), special educational needs and discrimination (claims relating to a contravention of the Equality Act 2010).
	The Government will review the implementation and operation of the gateway and publish the report of the review within two years of the introduction of the gateway, and before any decision is taken about any possible extension of the gateway to other areas of law such as welfare benefits.

Legal Aid Scheme

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of existing legal aid funding he expects citizens advice bureaux and law centres to retain in respect of work related to (a) debt, (b) housing, (c) welfare benefits and (d) employment.

Jonathan Djanogly: Once implemented, the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 will reduce the number and types of cases for which legal aid will be available, including some matters currently handled by not-for-profit providers. However, not-for-profit providers, alongside all other providers, will continue to be able to bid for the contracts that will be available going forward to deliver legal aid for the areas that remain in scope. The changes to the scope of legal aid will not take effect until April 2013, giving the not-for-profit sector time to adjust to changes in their funding.

Robbery

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the highest number was of previous convictions for robbery for an individual convicted of an offence of robbery without being sent to prison in each of the last three years; and how many offences they had committed in total at the point of sentence for this offence.

Crispin Blunt: Table 1 shows the highest number of previous convictions for the offence of robbery for an individual convicted of this offence in each year between 2008 to 2010 who received a sentence other than immediate custody. It also shows the offender's total number of previous offences for any offence at the point of sentence and the number of previous immediate custodial sentences for any offence.
	These figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the police national computer, which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. The figures are provisional and subject to change as more information is recorded by the police.
	
		
			 Table 1: The highest number of previous convictions for the offence of robbery, for an individual convicted of this offence without being sent to prison, in England and Wales in the years 2008 to 2010 
			  2008 2009 2010 
			 Number of previous convictions for robbery offences 13 14 11 
			 Number of previous cautions and convictions for any offence at time of conviction 69 56 65 
		
	
	
		
			 Number of previous immediate custodial sentences for any offence 38 30 20 
			 Source: Police National Computer, MOJ JSAS

Translation Services

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of hearings or trials requiring interpreters have been delayed due to Applied Language Solutions not providing an interpreter in the last year.

Crispin Blunt: Full implementation of the contract with Applied Language Solutions commenced on 30 January 2012. There were an unacceptable number of problems in the first weeks of full implementation of the contract, however the Government took swift action to require improvements and performance has now improved significantly.
	Information on the number of hearings or trials delayed due to problems with the new interpretation and translation contract is not available. The Chief Statistician for the Ministry of Justice has already announced plans to publish statistics on the use of interpreters in courts on 24 May 2012.

Unpaid Fines

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many fines levied by courts were not paid in full in the required period in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012 to date; and what estimate he has made of the total monetary value of such fines in each such year.

Jonathan Djanogly: My Department has been able to calculate the total amount imposed and the total amount paid for financial penalties but were not able to track centrally individual accounts until April 2011. The following table shows the data for April to December 2011, the latest data currently available:
	
		
			 Financial impositions in England and Wales—April to December 2011 
			 Total imposed in period (£) (1)294,000,000 
			 Total collected in period (£)(2) (1)209,000,000 
			 Accounts opened in period (4)964,000 
			 Accounts opened and closed in period(3) (4)420,000 
			 (1 )Rounded to nearest £million. (2 )Accounts closed will include those paid in full and any legally or administratively cancelled. (3) Total collected includes payments made against fines imposed prior to April 2011. (4 )Rounded to the nearest thousand. 
		
	
	Financial penalties include amounts for fines, costs, prosecution costs, legal aid, victim surcharge, compensation and unpaid fixed penalties and penalty notices for disorder that are transferred to HMCTS for enforcement. Accounts still open include fines that are being collected by instalments, those with deductions from benefit and those which have been given time to pay.

Victim Support Schemes

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress he has made in implementing his proposals for reform of services for victims and witnesses.

Crispin Blunt: Our consultation ‘Getting it Right for Victims and Witnesses’ closed on 22 April. We are considering the responses we have received and will publish the Government's response in the summer.

Young Offenders: Rochdale

Simon Danczuk: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many young adult offenders aged 18 to 20 years from the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale have been held in (a) young offender institutions, (b) local prisons, (c) women's prisons and (d) other parts of the secure estate in each month since May 2009.

Crispin Blunt: All young offenders serving sentences of DYOI are held in appropriately designated young offender institution (YOI) accommodation within the prison estate. The majority of this accommodation is in dedicated YOIs, although some establishments in the estate have a dual designation (designated both as a prison and a YOI) and hold both adult prisoners and young offenders.
	The following table shows the number of offenders aged 18 to 20-years-old from the Metropolitan borough of Rochdale on a set day in each month where data is available since May 2009. The data has only been recorded centrally since May 2009 and from September 2010 is available on a bi-monthly basis.
	
		
			 Number 
			  2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Prison function May Sept Nov Jan Mar May July Sept Nov Jan Mar 
			 (a) Young offender institutions 32 29 32 29 25 21 36 37 341 221 141 
			 (b) Local prisons 6 9 6 8 4 4 9 8 2 3 0 
			 (c) Women’s prisons 1 3 3 2 4 4 3 2 1 1 1 
			 (d) Other parts of the secure estate 0 1 0 1 5 5 4 3 5 4 3 
			 Total 39 42 41 40 38 34 52 50 52 40 28 
		
	
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	Information on offenders' residences is provided by offenders on reception into prison and recorded on a central IT system. Addresses can include a home address, an address to which offenders intend to return on discharge or next of kin address and these figures are provided in the table above.
	If no address is given, an offender's committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident. These figures are also included in the table above. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 3% of all offenders, these figures are excluded from the table above.

Young Offenders: Rochdale

Simon Danczuk: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many juvenile offenders from the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale have been held in a (a) secure children's home, (b) secure training centre and (c) young offender institution in each month since May 2005.

Crispin Blunt: The following table shows the number of juvenile offenders (aged 10 to 17) either sentenced or remanded in custody attached to Rochdale YOT who have been held in a (a) secure children's home, (b) secure training centre and (c) under 18 young offender institution in each month since May 2005 to March 2012.
	These data have been provided by the Youth Justice Board (YJB). The YJB only holds data at the YOT area level. YOT area data may cover more than one metropolitan borough or local authority area; however, in this case the YOT and the metropolitan borough cover the same geographical area.
	This is based upon monthly snapshot data. Therefore one young person who is serving more than one month in custody may be shown in more than one month in the table.
	The data from April 2011 onwards are provisional and will be finalised when the 2011-12 Youth Justice Statistics are published in 2013.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time.
	
		
			 Table 1: Young people in custody attached to Rochdale YOT by establishment type in each month since May 2005 
			  Secure children's homes Secure training centres Young offender institutions 
			 2005    
			 May 2 1 19 
			 June 2 1 18 
			 July 2 1 19 
			 August 1 1 18 
			 September 3 2 15 
			 October 4 2 16 
			 November 3 2 16 
			 December 3 0 12 
			     
			 2006    
			 January 2 0 19 
			 February 2 1 17 
			 March 0 1 15 
			 April 2 1 9 
			 May 2 0 10 
		
	
	
		
			 June 2 0 11 
			 July 1 0 14 
			 August 0 0 18 
			 September 1 0 16 
			 October 1 0 15 
			 November 2 1 19 
			 December 1 1 17 
			     
			 2007    
			 January 1 0 16 
			 February 1 0 16 
			 March 1 0 17 
			 April 1 1 18 
			 May 3 1 18 
			 June 3 0 15 
			 Jut 3 2 13 
			 August 4 2 13 
			 September 3 2 14 
			 October 2 1 15 
			 November 2 2 15 
			 December 1 1 13 
			     
			 2008    
			 January 2 0 18 
			 February 3 0 19 
			 March 2 0 17 
			 April 2 0 15 
			 May 2 0 14 
			 June 2 1 16 
			 July 1 1 17 
			 August 2 0 16 
			 September 3 0 10 
			 October 4 0 12 
			 November 4 1 12 
			 December 3 0 18 
			     
			 2009    
			 January 3 0 17 
			 February 5 0 16 
			 March 3 3 17 
			 April 2 2 12 
			 May 1 2 13 
			 June 1 2 12 
			 July 1 2 10 
			 August 2 1 8 
			 September 2 1 11 
			 October 2 1 10 
			 November 1 1 8 
			 December 2 1 9 
			     
			 2010    
			 January 1 0 11 
			 February 2 2 14 
			 March 3 2 16 
			 April 1 4 17 
			 May 2 2 17 
			 June 2 1 17 
			 July 0 2 16 
			 August 1 4 15 
			 September 1 4 19 
			 October 1 5 19 
			 November 1 1 17 
		
	
	
		
			 December 1 1 16 
			     
			 2011    
			 January 1 1 11 
			 February 2 2 12 
			 March 1 2 13 
			 April 2 2 11 
			 May 3 1 8 
			 June 1 1 12 
			 July 1 0 17 
			 August 1 0 16 
			 September 1 0 16 
			 October 1 0 12 
			 November 1 0 16 
			 December 1 0 13 
			     
			 2012    
			 January 1 0 14 
			 February 2 1 12 
			 March 2 0 11 
			 Notes: 1. YJB data referring to secure training centres (STCs), secure children's homes (SCHs), and under 18 young offender institutions (YOIs). These are based upon monthly snapshot data therefore one young person who is serving more than one month in custody will be shown in more than one month in the table. The figures from April 2011 onwards are provisional. Data from April 2011 onwards will be finalised when the 2011-12 Annual Youth Justice Statistics are published in 2013. 2. The data come from the Youth Justice Board's Secure Accommodation Clearing House System (SACHS). These figures have been drawn from administrative FT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change over time.

Advisory Services

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of the additional funding allocated to the devolved administrations as consequential funding for not-for-profit free advice services in the Budget was made available to the (a) Welsh Government, (b) Scottish Government and (c) Northern Ireland Executive.

Nick Hurd: The Government will make £20 million available in 2013-14, and again in 2014-15, to support the not-for-profit advice sector as it adapts to changes in the way it is funded.
	England's share will be £16.791 million, Scotland will receive £1.679 million, Wales £0.967 million and Northern Ireland £0.563 million.

Charity Commission

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when he plans to advertise for a new Chair of the Charity Commission; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: I plan to advertise for a new chair of the Charity Commission later this month, once I have received comments from the Public Administration Select Committee on the draft person specification and job description for the post. As a public appointment, the recruitment process will be conducted in line with the Code of Practice for ministerial appointments to public bodies.

Legal Aid Scheme

Anna Soubry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent discussions he has had on the allocation of the £20 million funding that his Department has provided to not-for-profit law and advice centres in 2013-14.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The Government has allocated £20 million in 2013-14, and again in 2014-15, to support the not-for-profit advice sector. Of those funds, England's share of £16.8 million each year will be used to support recommendations that arise from the Government's forthcoming review of advice services. This will be published later this year
	The Government would like to work collaboratively with the not-for-profit advice sector and I recently discussed options for allocating the funding with the sector at an event organised by Justice for All on 1 May 2012.

GCSE: Mathematics

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education with reference to the review of mathematics education by Carol Vorderman published in August 2011, what plans he has to reform GCSE mathematics.

Nick Gibb: We need to ensure we have world class qualifications which are challenging, rigorous and command confidence. We have already acted to put the focus back on sound subject teaching in GCSEs by ensuring that all exams are taken at the end of the course. We will reform all GCSEs, including mathematics, alongside our review of the national curriculum, and will consider the findings from Carol Vorderman's report alongside other evidence submitted to the review.

Children: Poverty

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of children (a) living in poverty in each of the last 15 years and (b) projected to be living in poverty in each of the next three years.

Maria Miller: The information requested is as follows:
	(a) Estimates of the number and proportion of children living in poverty are published in the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. HBAI uses household income adjusted (or ‘equivalised) for household size and composition, to provide a proxy for standard of living.
	The latest year of data which are available is 2009-10. The following table shows the number and proportion of children with income below 60% of contemporary median income, Before Housing Costs (BHC) in each of the last 15 years for which data are available.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number and proportion of children falling below 60% of contemporary median income, Before Housing Costs (BHC) 
			 Publication Period Number of children in millions (and %) 
			 FRS (GB) 1995-96 3.0 (24%) 
			  1996-97 3.4 (27%) 
			  1997-98 3.4 (27%) 
			    
			 FRS (UK) 1998-99 3.4 (26%) 
			  1999-2000 3.4 (26%) 
			  2000-01 3.1 (23%) 
			  2001-02 3.0 (23%) 
			  2002-03 2.9 (23%) 
			  2003-04 2.9 (22%) 
			  2004-05 2.7(21%) 
			  2005-06 2.8 (22%) 
			  2006-07 2.9 (22%) 
			  2007-08 2.9 (23%) 
			  2008-09 2.8 (22%) 
			  2009-10 2.6 (20%) 
		
	
	(b) The Government has not produced projections of the proportion of children to be living in income poverty in each of the next three years. The new Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission will provide an assessment of child poverty using a wide range of measures, including income.
	Notes
	1. These statistics are based on Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data sourced from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). The FRS uses disposable household income, adjusted using modified OECD equivalisation factors for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living.
	2. Net disposable incomes have been used to answer the question. This includes earnings from employment and self-employment, state support, income from occupational and private pensions, investment income and other sources. Income tax, payments, national insurance contributions, council tax/domestic rates and some other payments are deducted from incomes.
	3. Figures have been presented on a Before Housing Cost rather than an After Housing Cost basis. For Before Housing Costs, housing costs are not deducted from income, while for After Housing Costs they are.
	4. All estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to a degree of uncertainty. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response.
	5. FRS figures are for Great Britain up to 1997/98, and for the United Kingdom from 1998-99, with estimates for Northern Ireland imputed for the years 1998-99 through 2001-02. The reference period for FRS figures is single financial years.
	6. Numbers of households with children have been rounded to the nearest hundred thousand children.
	7. Proportions of households with children have been rounded to the nearest percentage point.
	8. This measure is defined as:
	Relative poverty: households with children with equivalised incomes below 60% of contemporary median household income Before Housing Costs (BHC).
	9. The Child Poverty Act 2010 sets four income-based UK-wide targets to be met by 2020. The targets are based on the proportion of children living in households with relative low income, combined low income and material deprivation, absolute low income and persistent poverty.
	10. These statistics are publicly available in the Households Below Average Income Report on the DWP website:
	http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=hbai

Crisis Loans

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what changes to the eligibility criteria for crisis loans there have been since 2010.

Steve Webb: Since 2010 the basic eligibility criteria for crisis loans has not changed. A person satisfies the conditions if they are aged 16 or over and are without sufficient resources to meet the immediate short-term needs of themselves or their family.
	Changes have however been made that affect the general conditions for an award. These are as follows:
	From 4 April 2011 awards for general living expenses, emergency travel expenses and emergency fuel meter credit were restricted to three awards in a rolling 12-month period. This rule does not apply to living expenses given for alignment to benefit purposes, or to rent in advance.
	From 4 April 2011 Crisis Loan awards for household items such as cookers and beds can only be made as a consequence of a disaster such as a fire or flood.
	From 4 July 2011 the period in which a decision maker may refuse to consider a repeat application that is made in exactly the same circumstances as a previous application was extended from 28 days to 12 months.

Employment and Support Allowance: Scotland

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Scotland, (b) Edinburgh and (c) Edinburgh East constituency have been receiving the assessment phase rate of employment and support allowance for (i) more than 12 months, (ii) more than 10 months, (iii) more than eight months, (iv) more than six months, (v) more than four months and (vi) more than two months.

Steve Webb: The information requested is given in the following table.
	The assessment phase of employment and support allowance is the period in which a claim is decided using the work capability assessment (WCA). This ‘Assessment Phase’ normally lasts for three months. If it takes longer arrears of benefit will be paid where claimants are found to have limited capability for work or limited capability for work-related activity. There are a variety of reasons why people may be in the assessment phase for longer than three months, for example where the WCA cannot be completed because additional evidence is being sought, or where a claimant is appealing.
	
		
			 Claimants in the assessment phase of employment and support allowance in Scotland, Edinburgh city local authority and Edinburgh east parliamentary constituency by duration of claim—August 2011 
			  Scotland City of Edinburgh local authority Edinburgh east parliamentary constituency 
			 All 39,260 2,330 610 
			 Less than 2 months 11,080 680 200 
			 More than 2 months 28,180 1,650 410 
			 More than 4 months 19,130 1,060 260 
			 More than 6 months 14,050 720 180 
			 More than 8 months 10,080 490 120 
			 More than 10 months 7,950 360 90 
			 More than 12 months' 6,170 270 70 
			 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Durations figures include overlaps and therefore will not sum to the overall total. 3. Employment and support allowance (ESA) replaced incapacity benefit and income support paid on the grounds of incapacity for new claims from 27 October 2008. 4. Phase of ESA claim is derived from payment details held on the source system. The three phases are assessment phase, work related activity phase and support group phase. 5. Parliamentary constituency of claimant (Westminster)—these constituencies are used for the Westminster parliament. Source: DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100% data.

Employment Schemes

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many referrals were subcontracted by each Work programme prime contractor to (a) charities, third sector or other voluntary and community organisations and (b) private sector subcontractors (i) in total and (ii) in each month since the programme's inception; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: The data requested on referrals to the Work programme that have been subcontracted is not available
	Administrative data is only held against prime providers; hence Work programme statistics are only reported against the prime contracts.
	To understand the flows of referrals within supply chains particularly to voluntary and community sector organisations (VCS) within the Work programme information was collected from each prime provider in a short one-off exercise.
	The results of this exercise are published in a document entitled 'Information on Voluntary and Community Sector organisations' at:
	http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/adhoc_analysis/2011/vsc_org_within_wp.pdf
	Official statistics on referrals and attachments to the Work programme were released for the first time on 21 February 2011 and are available at the following website:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=wp

Employment Schemes

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 19 March 2012, Official Report, column 495W, on employment schemes, whether he has issued the provider guidance on publishing Work Programme data; and if he will place a copy of any such guidance in the Library.

Chris Grayling: The guidance to providers on releasing Work programme performance data has not yet been finalised. DWP are still in discussions with ERSA, the trade body for employment related services, to agree the extent to which data can be shared in advance of the publication of Official Statistics in autumn 2012.

Materials Handling Equipment

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the number of deaths as a result of crane accidents in each year from 2008 and in 2012 to date.

Chris Grayling: The number of fatalities in all industries resulting from crane accidents are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Number of fatalities 
			 2007/08 2 
			 2008/09 10 
			 2009/10 3 
			 2010/11 (provisional) 2 
		
	
	The fatality statistics for 2010/11 will be finalised on 5 July 2012.
	Provisional fatality statistics for 2011/12 will be published on 5 July 2012. However, the detailed analysis required to produce specific data about fatalities involving tower cranes is not expected to be completed until November 2012.

Occupational Pensions

Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  whether representatives of the agency sector will be involved in the Workplace Pension Reforms Evaluation Strategy;
	(2)  what format the Workplace Pension Reform Strategy will take; and what steps he plans to take to involve stakeholders.

Steve Webb: We are committed to a full evaluation of the impact of the workplace pension reforms. A copy of the workplace pension reform evaluation strategy can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2011-2012/rrep764.pdf
	The first report based on this strategy will be published summer 2012. This will reflect the views of a range of stakeholders on the scope and approach of the evaluation strategy. These views were gathered during workshops held in March 2012, which were attended by national bodies representing the agency sector, alongside other key stakeholders including industry providers, academics and research organisations. A full list of organisations consulted will be published in the report.
	Stakeholder views will continue to be taken into account over the course of the evaluation programme.

Social Fund: Scotland

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on (a) community care grants, (b) budgeting loans, (c) crisis loans items, (d) crisis loan living expenses and (e) crisis loan alignments in each region of Scotland in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2010-11; and how much he expects to allocate for each purpose in each region of Scotland in (A) 2012-13 and (B) 2013-14.

Steve Webb: The following tables provide details of the amount spent in each region of Scotland in 2009-10 and 2010-11 on each element of the discretionary Social Fund.
	The current scheme will continue for 2012-13. However, under the localisation agenda approximately £25 million will be allocated to Scotland in 2013-14 for the local provision that will replace community care grants and non-alignment crisis loans.
	
		
			 Table 1: Discretionary social fund spend in Scotland 2010-11 by local authority 
			 £ 
			  CCGs BLs CL items CL alignment CL living expenses 
			 Aberdeen City 426,000 1,238,000 240,000 250,000 368,000 
			 Aberdeenshire 273,000 644,000 134,000 141,000 154,000 
			 Angus 260,000 635,000 95,000 138,000 123,000 
			 Argyll and Bute 282,000 433,000 129,000 86,000 93,000 
			 Clackmannanshire 201,000 567,000 116,000 90,000 119,000 
			 Dumfries and Galloway 444,000 847,000 209,000 162,000 157,000 
			 Dundee City 756,000 1,816,000 273,000 327,000 301,000 
			 East Ayrshire 548,000 1,396,000 343,000 229,000 205,000 
			 East Dunbartonshire 166,000 428,000 92,000 77,000 80,000 
			 East Lothian 222,000 515,000 90,000 117,000 97,000 
			 East Renfrewshire 144,000 373,000 67,000 50,000 61,000 
			 Edinburgh, City of 1,294,000 3,202,000 495,000 718,000 657,000 
			 Eilean Siar 33,000 60,000 18,000 12,000 12,000 
			 Falkirk 585,000 1,179,000 236,000 219,000 260,000 
			 Fife 1,053,000 3,167,000 449,000 516,000 500,000 
			 Glasgow City 5,337,000 10,769,000 1,841,000 1,692,000 1,707,000 
			 Highland 484,000 1,040,000 236,000 241,000 260,000 
			 Inverclyde 435,000 874,000 287,000 160,000 206,000 
			 Midlothian 252,000 662,000 100,000 98,000 117,000 
			 Moray 207,000 326,000 69,000 89,000 96,000 
			 North Ayrshire 683,000 1,785,000 402,000 288,000 284,000 
			 North Lanarkshire 1,934,000 4,055,000 944,000 697,000 704,000 
			 Orkney Islands 28,000 29,000 15,000 12,000 6,000 
			 Perth and Kinross 347,000 585,000 109,000 156,000 156,000 
			 Renfrewshire 577,000 1,849,000 461,000 323,000 403,000 
			 Scottish Borders 297,000 509,000 118,000 102,000 111,000 
			 Shetland Islands 41,000 35,000 7,000 19,000 18,000 
			 South Ayrshire 429,000 885,000 209,000 178,000 147,000 
			 South Lanarkshire 1,297,000 2,835,000 562,000 493,000 497,000 
			 Stirling 249,000 465,000 93,000 106,000 108,000 
			 West Dunbartonshire 524,000 1,326,000 264,000 198,000 235,000 
			 West Lothian 644,000 1,344,000 290,000 326,000 356,000 
			 Notes: 1. Applications and awards are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Total expenditure is rounded to the nearest 100. 3. Percentages may not sum to 100% due to rounding. 4. Figures are different from the annual report as a different source has been used. 5. There are up to 15% of cases missing when the SF data source is merged with the National Benefit Database to obtain local authority the person lived in at the time of application. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Discretionary Social Fund spend in Scotland 2009-10 by local authority 
			 £ 
			  CCGs BLs CL items CL alignment CL living expenses 
			 Aberdeen City 415,000 1,324,000 256,000 262,000 369,000 
			 Aberdeenshire 272,000 680,000 142,000 139,000 159,000 
			 Angus 237,000 685,000 121,000 136,000 154,000 
			 Argyll and Bute 268,000 471,000 115,000 109,000 119,000 
			 Clackmannanshire 176,000 595,000 113,000 101,000 133,000 
			 Dumfries and Galloway 385,000 963,000 178,000 179,000 179,000 
			 Dundee City 809,000 2,044,000 342,000 367,000 387,000 
			 East Ayrshire 565,000 1,609,000 363,000 248,000 271,000 
			 East Dunbartonshire 155,000 471,000 84,000 76,000 80,000 
			 East Lothian 218,000 598,000 103,000 133,000 136,000 
			 East Renfrewshire 141,000 427,000 77,000 57,000 71,000 
			 Edinburgh, City of 1,282,000 3,595,000 591,000 800,000 801,000 
			 Eilean Siar 54,000 84,000 21,000 15,000 10,000 
			 Falkirk 505,000 1,278,000 260,000 220,000 280,000 
			 Fife 1,037,000 3,517,000 519,000 534,000 542,000 
			 Glasgow City 5,372,000 12,073,000 2,095,000 1,795,000 1,900,000 
			 Highland 451,000 1,148,000 202,000 255,000 276,000 
			 Inverclyde 457,000 1,002,000 295,000 180,000 288,000 
			 Midlothian 237,000 659,000 118,000 124,000 137,000 
			 Moray 152,000 345,000 61,000 83,000 100,000 
			 North Ayrshire 695,000 2,058,000 392,000 290,000 368,000 
			 North Lanarkshire 1,865,000 4,467,000 1,084,000 663,000 868,000 
		
	
	
		
			 Orkney Islands 27,000 41,000 6,000 7,000 6,000 
			 Perth and Kinross 366,000 627,000 123,000 144,000 168,000 
			 Renfrewshire 582,000 2,063,000 494,000 334,000 485,000 
			 Scottish Borders 270,000 517,000 107,000 100,000 109,000 
			 Shetland Islands 47,000 37,000 10,000 16,000 18,000 
			 South Ayrshire 449,000 1,024,000 211,000 174,000 168,000 
			 South Lanarkshire 1,249,000 3,092,000 654,000 510,000 572,000 
			 Stirling 241,000 533,000 100,000 108,000 126,000 
			 West Dunbartonshire 484,000 1,513,000 247,000 212,000 284,000 
			 West Lothian 719,000 1,522,010 350,000 379,000 433,000 
			 Notes: 1. Applications and awards are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Total expenditure Is rounded to the nearest 100. 3. Percentages may not sum to 100% due to rounding. 4. Figures are different from the annual report as a different source has been used.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reasons warning letters sent to benefit claimants who may be affected by the introduction of the benefit cap do not state how much the household is likely to lose as a result of the cap; and if he will make it his policy that such information should be included.

Chris Grayling: The intention of the direct mail letters is to give all claimants, who may be affected by the cap, as much notice and support as possible to help them change their circumstances before the cap is implemented. The letters will not state the actual, financial impact for the household as their circumstances could change before the cap is implemented in April 2013. A benefit cap helpline has been set up to provide claimants with information and signpost them to support, based on their individual need.

State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the findings of the report by Oxford Economics entitled Uprating Frozen-Rate Pensions.

Steve Webb: I note that the report concludes that uprating all pensions paid overseas would incur additional costs, which would need to be borne by the UK taxpayer.

Environment Protection: International Assistance

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he plans to take to ensure that the UN initiative on Sustainable Energy for All is a priority for the G20 Clean Energy Ministerial.

Gregory Barker: The Department hosted the third Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) on 25-26 April 2012, which included a number of important links with the United Nations Secretary-General's initiative on Sustainable Energy for All (SE4A11).
	With UK support the SE4A11 High Level Group met on 24 April, the day before the CEM, allowing a number of participants to attend both meetings.
	The UN Secretary-General participated by audio link at the CEM. The Co-Chairs of the SE4A11 High Level Group also attended the CEM and they and the Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), is the UK Government lead for SE4A11, participated in a joint CEM-SE4A11 press conference, which included announcements of a number of initiatives focussing on energy access and clean energy deployment in developing countries.

Apprentices

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many black people aged 16 to 24 years gained a place on an apprenticeship scheme for each occupation type in (a) 2010 and (b) 2011; and how many of those people secured a permanent job after completing the apprenticeship.

John Hayes: Final data showing the number of apprenticeship programme starts by ethnicity, age and sector subject area in the 2010/11 academic year, the latest period for which final data are available, will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
	Information on the employment status of ethnic minority learners after completing an apprenticeship framework is not available.
	The Department (with the National Apprenticeship Service) undertakes surveys of apprentices which ask about their employment outcomes. A recent survey (May 2012) shows that 85% of apprenticeship completers (those who completed their apprenticeship in the last 12 months) were employed by an employer at the time of the survey with a further 4% being self employed. This gives a total of 89% in employment at the time of the survey.
	A previous survey commissioned by the former Learning and Skills Council(1 )looked at the employment status of individuals at the time of the interview (December 2008/January 2009), by when they completed their apprenticeship, going back to 2003/04. The results are very similar.
	(1) The Benefits of Completing an Apprenticeship LSC 2009.

BRIC Countries

Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with officials in the government of (i) India, (ii) China and (iii) Brazil in the last 12 months.

Mark Prisk: Ministers from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) meet their counterparts in India, China and Brazil during regular high level meetings under initiatives such as the Joint Economic and Trade Committee; and during inward and outward visits. BIS officials based in the UK and overseas meet representatives of these countries on a daily basis. These interactions occur in a wide variety of circumstances and it is therefore not possible accurately to assess the number of meetings that have taken place in the last 12 months.
	An overview of BIS ministerial interactions can be found at:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/transparency/staff

BRIC Countries

Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many visits have been made to (a) India, (b) China and (c) Brazil by Ministers in his Department in each of the last 10 years.

Mark Prisk: Ministers from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills make regular visits to India, Chain and Brazil given these market's increasing importance to the global economy. Full records are not available for the 10 year period in question.
	An overview of BIS ministerial interactions can be found at:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/transparency/staff

Community Interest Companies: Lancashire

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will place in the Library a list of current community interest companies registered in Lancashire.

Norman Lamb: Companies House has prepared a list of 270 companies which it believes are registered in Lancashire and this will be placed in the Libraries of the House. However, this list is not definitive as Companies House's data is extracted primarily from post code areas, which can cross county boundaries.

Higher Education: Mathematics

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what information his Department holds on the proportion of science, technology, engineering and mathematics degrees which require further mathematics for entry.

David Willetts: The information is not held centrally.

Higher Education: Standards

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how often performance indicators of designated higher education providers will be assessed as part of his Department's recently introduced due diligence checks.

David Willetts: The Government is currently considering how best to monitor higher education providers with specifically designated courses in the future.
	The Higher Education White Paper and the associated Technical Consultation document, set out the Government's intention that all providers that access student support funding will, in future, be subject to the same standards for financial sustainability.
	Further details on how these proposals will be taken forward, including possible legislative options, will be announced shortly.

Higher Education: Student Numbers

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the answer of 19 March 2012, Official Report, column 518W, on higher education: student numbers, for what reason he collects such data for institutions which are subject to the student numbers cap but not for those which can recruit without the constraints of a quota.

David Willetts: Institutions in receipt of grant funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) are required to submit data to the Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA) as a condition of that funding. These arrangements have been in place since HESA was established in 1993. The condition to submit data to HESA is not placed on institutions not funded by HEFCE. It is one of the anomalies that our regulatory reforms, announced in the Higher Education White Paper “Students at the Heart of the System”, are intended to address.

New Businesses: Graduates

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to support graduate entrepreneurship (a) in Birmingham, Ladywood constituency, (b) in the West Midlands and (c) nationally.

Mark Prisk: The Government are funding the National Association of College and University Entrepreneurs to build a self-sustainable business model that will support the creation of student enterprise societies in every university and most colleges by 2015. The societies work to drive the growth of entrepreneurship in higher and further education, raising awareness of enterprise as a potential career choice and providing advice and support to students and graduates as they start-up in business. Within the West Midlands, societies have been established, or are planned, within a number of universities and colleges, including those in the Birmingham area.
	Government funding is also being provided to the National Centre for Entrepreneurship in Education as it builds a sustainable infrastructure to enable higher and further education institutions to better support entrepreneurship. Activities include the provision of an Entrepreneurial University Leadership programme to improve the capability of university leaders to deliver entrepreneurial training, thereby encouraging more graduates into self-employment.
	Those graduates entering into self-employment will also be encouraged through support under the Budget 2012 announcement, which made available £10 million in 2012/13 for a programme of enterprise loans to help young people set up and grow their own businesses.

Patents: EU Action

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the status is of negotiations on the European Unitary Patent; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The Government supports the creation of a European patent system that will bring real benefits for businesses, consumers and the economy. The current proposals include creating a single unitary patent and a unified patent court which would deal with the unitary patent and existing European patents.
	The regulations establishing the unitary patent are currently under consideration by the European Parliament and we understand that a date for a plenary debate has not yet been set.
	Negotiations on the intergovernmental agreement creating the patent court are still ongoing. The Government has put forward a strong case for the UK to host the seat of the central division of the patent court and we are working hard to ensure that the details of the proposals deliver the most effective arrangements for UK business and their representatives who will use the courts.